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Chapter 13 - A Helping Hand (CitC)
Tubba sat in the darkness, stewing. ''Why did I even ask him? ''He punched the stone floor in anger, and immediately regretted it as he felt extreme pain in his knuckles. His injured leg was still numb, so without the benefit of sight, Tubba had to check if it was still there via touching it with his hand every now and again. Everytime he thought he heard footsteps outside, he let out a roar and attempted to get attention drawn to him. He wondered if people thought they just came across a very foul-mouthed ghost. ''What happens if I'm to be here for days? ''The thought came upon Tubba like ice water in the morning. A few hours would be fine; no one wanted to be trapped in a closet, but if it was between hours and days, he'd take the hours. With no meaning to tell the time, Tubba sat in the darkness, controlling his breathing, ensuring that he was as calm as possible. The room was just long enough for him to sit up against the door and stretch his legs, but not do much more. ''I can't just wait here. ''Tubba thought to himself, picking himself to his feet. ''There's got to be another way out. This can't be a dead end. ''Feeling the walls, all Tubba felt was the same hard stone that was impossible to break. Huffing, Tubba sat down at the other end of the room, stretching his legs toward the door. ''Might as well be comfortable until someone comes looking for me. ''Ignoring the second voice in his head screaming the doomsday at him, Tubba sat and stared into the darkness. A breeze stirred his hair. Looking up, Tubba felt air hit his eye; it watered. ''There's a big enough gap for air to get through. Is it big enough for me? ''Doubt wracking his mind, Tubba felt up. To his surprise, there was what could constitute a shaft there. It was barely big enough to fit him, but it certainly led somewhere, considering Tubba was feeling air. Making up his mind, Tubba pushed off and leapt off the back wall of the tiny room, and felt himself get stuck in the shaft. His belly scales scraped awkwardly against the front of the shaft, and his shell slid against the back. Although gravity was trying, Tubba thought there was no way he'd be able to go back down the shaft, judging by how stuck his belly scales were. Pushing himself up by thrashing his legs, Tubba winced as the rock scraped against his belly scales roughly. Taking care with his injured leg as to not reopen the cut, Tubba continued pushing himself up the shaft. Up and up he went, until Tubba's muscles were screaming in protest and his belly scales worn down that everytime he moved he felt a jolt of pain. He had to keep going up: there was no way he could go down. Taking a moment to catch his breath, his legs still dangling in empty air, Tubba reflected on how he should've stayed on the ground in the tiny room Roy left him in. This shaft was painful and didn't seem to be nearing an end. Still further he went up, his arms getting wearier and wearier, crying out with pain as he felt a new cut open on his belly as he went up. It was starting to feel like the shaft would never end when Tubba's head hit against something incredibly hard. Feeling an egg-sized lump open up on his head, Tubba realized he had reached the top of the shaft. His arms were free, his belly was out of the shaft, he had the room to get up. Feeling forward with his right arm, he realized that he had entered a room. Pulling himself out of the shaft, wincing as his belly scraped against rock again, Tubba straightened up. The shaft's exit had a lower roof than the rest of the room, from what he could feel, which was pitch-black. But beyond the door in this new room, Tubba could see light filtering from this door. Testing the circular bracket handle, Tubba felt a smile spreading across his face. The door was unlocked. He had got himself out of the room, with no one's help. Pride swelling, Tubba opened the door. His eyes were instantly beset by a barrage of colors, a stunning contrast to the darkness of the rooms and the shaft. Pink, red, and yellow were the predominant colors, but shades of blue, green and black were there as well. Blinking to stop his eyes from watering, Tubba searched the area. It appeared to be a closet. The walls were covered with a pink wallpaper, and against those walls were drawers that appeared to be full of clothes. Hanging on various hangers were shells of mainly pink color, but also purple, green and black. The door in front of him was pink and covered in hearts. ''Didn't Roy say that that room he locked me in was the royal closet? I thought he was just making a joke. But if I'm not wrong, I've just wandered into Wendy's closet. ''Tubba looked down at his feet. On the floor was a fluffy pink carpet spread across the whole room, a welcome change from the hard rock Tubba had been scrambling upon for the past while. His belly scales were bleeding slightly, but other than scratches across his other scales, he was relatively undamaged from that climb. As Tubba made a stride to the door, he heard voices on the other side. "LEMMY! I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO PUT THAT OVER THERE!" A high female voice shrieked, making Tubba wince away from the door, covering his internal ears. "Sorry! Sorry!" Lemmy's silvery voice responded with a trace of fear, and another trace of annoyance. "C'mon Lemmy, put dat in da right place! Ya messed up da girl's room, at least clean it up, ya dolt." Tubba felt a rush of indignation as he recognized Roy's gruff voice and horrible "tough guy" accent. He had gone after Lemmy after locking him up, then? "But I didn't!" Lemmy cried in indignation. "Besides, I'm twenty-five, you can't bully me anymore, Roy!" "Ya think?" The unmistakable sound of flesh on flesh occurred. Lemmy cried in pain, before exclaiming: "Alright! I'm doing it!" "By the way, Roy, what did you do with Tubba?" Lemmy asked after a brief silence between the voices. "I locked dat guy up! Da guy was gettin' on meh nerves, with all dose questions!" Something shattered. The high female voice screamed as if she was in agony, but for once, neither Lemmy or Roy seemed to care. "You locked him up?" Lemmy asked, his voice low. Tubba could imagine Lemmy looking left and right, as if fearing someone would eavesdrop. "Ya? Shud I not've?" Roy, brazen as always, did not seem to care. "Dad ordered him to work with Ludwig and Iggy!" Lemmy explained, his voice getting higher with distress. Something else shattered. Once again, the high female voice cried in pain. "King Dad?" Roy asked, worry finally lacing his tone. "Dad hired dat Clubba? Are ya jokin'?" "Yes!" Lemmy cried. "We have to let him out or Dad will throw us both in the lava!" Sensing this was the time to make his entrance, Tubba opened the closet door and strode out in Wendy's room. It was a very spacious room, the floor adorned with the same pink fluffy carpet, the walls with the same pink wallpaper. Posters were across the room, from the "Dino Piranhas" band to pictures of Wendy herself. Standing across from him was a scene frozen in motion, with Lemmy and Roy glaring at each other, and someone, who Tubba supposed was Wendy, stopped mid-scream. Wendy hadn't changed much from the younger days of the Koopalings. The same bangles, the same bow, the same lipstick. The only major differences was that she was about a foot taller than Tubba, and she had actually grown red hair, which now hung down to her shoulders. Her eyes were looking at Tubba, but her mouth was wide open in a silent scream. Wendy was the closest Koopaling to Tubba in age, having turned twenty-four only a month prior. "I'm right here, don't worry, Lemmy." Tubba said. Lemmy and Roy immediately surrounded Tubba, crowing in disbelief and relief. Among their questions was the standard "How did you get out?" Tubba explained the climb up the shaft, and how it led to Wendy's closet. It was a rather simple story, for the three Koopalings realized that it was part of a system of shafts and tunnels they had made at younger ages, allowing them to contact each other when they were grounded in their separate rooms. Lemmy and Roy listened to Tubba's story with relief, but Wendy had a face of increasing disdain. "He wanted to find the lab and you guys locked him in a closet?" Wendy berated her brothers, shaking her head in disbelief. "Come on, Tubba, I'll show you the lab." Gesturing at Tubba to follow her amid Lemmy's cries of "it was Roy!", Wendy opened the aptly pink door to her room and led the way to the lab. It took less than five minutes to travel down one of the spiral stairwells in Bowser's Castle to get to the basement, where Iggy and Ludwig had their rooms and the lab. Wendy was silent the entire trip, just gesturing and pointing. While Tubba didn't miss Roy's "tough guy" voice, or Lemmy's childish one, they at least talked to him. Still, Wendy took him to the lab quicker than both of them. Reflecting on how easy getting to the lab was with a competent guide, he bid farewell to Wendy and entered the lab, greeted by puffs of blue and green smoke. If only working with Ludwig and Iggy would be as easy.